Wolves of the Sea
by gibbonsarenotmonkeys
Summary: RedHook, slightly AU. A night of babysitting goes awry and Ruby winds up in a land she never expected to visit.
1. Chapter 1

The baby was crying. Again. Ruby rubbed her forehead, clicking the television off, before she trudged up the stairs to find the problem, wondering all the while how she had gotten herself roped into this.

It hadn't been her fault, she reminded herself. Granny had volunteered to watch baby Alexandra so that Ashley and Sean could have a 'date night', but then there had been a 'crisis' at the diner, and Ruby had gotten stuck with the kid. It would be easy, Granny said. She'd probably sleep the whole time, she claimed. And she'd be back soon enough, she had assured her. But none of those things seemed to be holding true.

She frowned as she drew near the spare bedroom where they'd set the crib up, wondering when Granny had started putting blue strobe lights in the guest room. Sensing something was wrong, she lunged towards the door, shoving it open just in time to see a few fairies lifting the baby princess through a shimmering blue portal. "Hey!" Ruby yelled, running forward and reaching out for the baby, but her fingers only closed around her pink baby blanket, and a few seconds later the fairies had disappeared, with the baby, into the shimmering blue abyss. Without a second fault, Ruby followed them through, jumping into the unknown with the baby blanket still clutched in her hand.

* * *

"What is it?" A burly voice asked, wonder in his tone.

"It's a woman, you nitwit. We haven't been here so long you've forgotten what a woman is, have we?" A more nasally voice answered, as Ruby's bleary mind tried to focus on what was going on around her.

"But is it real?" The first voice again, and to answer, Ruby was struck hard in the side, and she groaned in pain.

"Alive too, it seems." The second voice answered, and Ruby slowly reached around to her side, blinking her eyes slowly.

"What should we do with her?" The deep voice asked again, wonderingly.

"Take 'er back to the ship, obviously. Captain'll decide what's to be done with her." And then something struck her in the head, and the world went dark again.

* * *

When she next woke, it was to the stomach-churning sensation of unfamiliar hands in unwelcome places, and she found herself coming to her senses much more quickly, squealing and shoving rough, dirty hands away from the buttons of her shirt, kicking her feet out and pushing herself back until she felt a solid wall at her back. It was dim, but as adrenaline started pumping through her veins, she could make out that she was in a small, candlelit room, with at least three large men rapidly advancing on her, laughing raucously. Her head was pounding and she couldn't exactly make out their words yet, but if their smiles were any indication, it was something lewd. Her enhanced sense of smell picked up the scent of sweat, sour milk, and…sea water? Her fight or flight instinct kicked in, and her mind slowly clearing, she reached into the neck of her shirt, ignoring the way the laughter increased in volume as she fumbled in her bra for the little plastic cylinder.

They didn't suspect a thing even as she held it at arm's length and compressed the button, squeezing her eyes shut, she turned her head away and shielded her own face with her arm even as they began hollering, the pepper spray burning their eyes, noses and faces. They backed up, hands scrubbing their faces fruitlessly, and she found her feet, racing towards the other end of the room. There was a staircase, and apparently drawn by the men's shouts when they'd expected screams of a much more feminine nature, a door at the top swung open, spilling sunlight down into the room below, and Ruby had just enough time to press herself into the wall next to the staircase before they came thundering down, waiting until they had blinkingly passed her by to race up the stairs behind them, emerging into the sunlight.

She made it only a few steps before another man noticed her and charged, but she was ready this time, and summoning what strength she could from her wolf, she drove her fist square into his face, and he was knocked onto his ass, and she ran forward, ducking under another man and bowling another over with the force of her momentum. She just had to find a way…a way…out of here…her mind reeled as she registered the sights around her, rigging and wood floors and she staggered against the railing as she realized that there was no getting out of here…because 'here' was a ship, and looking down over the railing, she slowly registered the fact that the only way out was into the dangerous looking waters below.

She drew in a ragged breath as the weight of this realization pressed down on her, her hands on the railing the only thing keeping her on her feet. So, she could stay on board with a bunch of angry, horny men, or jump into the sea and probably drown. She was still debating when she felt someone approach behind her, something sharp and pointy pressing into the small of her back.

"I wouldn't try anything cute with me, if I were you." Came a smooth, almost amused voice behind her, a hand coming to rest on her waist to turn her around to face him, the hard edge behind her sliding along her waist, resting with a casual threat against her stomach, and she drew in a sharp breath as she looked up at him. Her eyes traveled slowly up, over black layers of silk and leather, gaudy jewelry, to a jaw covered with stubble, a mouth curved up in the same amusement his voice carried, to dark, smouldering eyes that somehow managed to be bright and threatening at the same time. Those eyes captivated and terrified her, but even as she stared up at him, she could feel the cold, hard tip of steel traveling up her torso, between her breasts and over her collarbone.

Just as it scratched her throat, her hand shot up in an automatic reaction to threat, survival instinct kicking in, she wrapped her fingers around the curved blade, gasping as it bit into her fingers, but not releasing it, instead letting it cut deeper into her hand as she pulled the point away from her throat. His eyebrows shot up, seemingly surprised, and he looked away from her eyes to their hands. Released, she followed his gaze, more surprised by the hook she was clinging to than by the ruby red droplets of blood welling from her own hand. "Hook?" She said softly, looking back to him with eyes wide with intrigue.

"The one and only," he answered with a wicked looking grin, reaching over with his hand to extricate his bloody hook from her hand. "My, you are the spirited thing, aren't you?" He commented, looking away from her to one of the men who had drawn closer while she was distracted by the captain's eyes. "I do like a spirited woman. Mr Smee," he called over his shoulder, although his eyes were still on the woman before him, "escort our lovely guest to my cabin, would you?"


	2. Chapter 2

With angry, injured men muttering rebelliously on one side and a churning sea on the other, Ruby saw little choice but to go along with 'Mr Smee', despite her misgivings about what the captain had in mind. He took away her pepper spray first, though, for all the good it would do him. It only really had the one shot in it, so she hadn't tried too hard to keep it. She needed a new weapon. And maybe the captain's cabin would be just the place to find it.

The room was dark, lit only by a dimly burning oil lamp on the far wall, and clutching her injured hand, she headed towards it, moving slowly and trying not to trip over anything in the darkness. Stumbling only a few times, she bumped into something waist-height and soft separating her from her goal…a bed? She climbed onto it, kneeling to reach the lantern and turn the little handle that would increase the flame. Light flooded into the cabin just as the door opened, and Red turned her head in time to see Hook saunter across the threshold. His eyes met hers, and he was already smiling, looking pleased. "Well, at least you know where you belong." His eyes flickered down to the bed pointedly, and Ruby raised an eyebrow suggestively, sliding off the bed and using the light to look for a weapon.

"I guess the only question is if there's any room left for you." He grinned, and his amusement gave Ruby the opportunity to reach for the sword propped up against the side of the bed, grabbing it scabbard and all, but even as she lifted it, Hook somehow managed to move from one side of the room to the other, catching the still-sheathed blade with his hook.

"We could do that, but it seems like such a shame. I'd hate to get blood on the sheets like this." He nodded towards her injured hand, and then shoved his hook against the blade, and her trembling, bloody fingers gave way, letting the sword fall to the floor. Ruby took a hesitant step back until the back of her knees touched the bed, looking up at him, and was surprised when he held up a bundle of clean white bandages. "Not when there are so many more enjoyable ways to get them dirty." There was a certain twinkle in his eyes as he took her hand, eyes flickering up to hers occasionally as he started wrapping the bandages around her damaged hand, using his teeth to replace his missing hand.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked, eyes incredulous, as she watched him.

"Ah, where are my manners?" He drew himself up, gesturing with his hook, he grinned charmingly. "Killian Jones, captain of the Jolly Roger. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" He bowed, still holding her hand lightly although he'd finished wrapping it, and Ruby raised an eyebrow, trying to conveyed how unimpressed she was by his mockery of chivalry, but her lip shook with the effort of not smiling. For a blood thirsty pirate, he had a certain charisma that was difficult to resist. When she didn't answer, he glanced up at her, still down in his bow, and gave her a quizzical look, raising his eyebrows as though to cue her. She gave him a look that said she wasn't impressed, and he straightened up. "This, love, would be the part where you tell me your name."

Ruby regarded him for a moment, pulling her hand back from him and touching the bandage on her hand gingerly. "Ruby." She finally answered. She hadn't gone by Red since before the curse had hit…without her signature cloak, it hardly seemed fitting anymore. His eyes flashed and he grinned wolfishly.

"Ah, Ruby. My favourite gem." The way he said her name, his voice hardly above a whisper, all charm and danger, made a shiver run up her spine. Staring into her eyes intently, it took her a moment to remember herself, and she looked away hastily and drew in a deep breath.

"And I'm sure when you meet a girl named Violet, that's your favourite flower, and Summer's your favourite season when she's standing right in front of you, isn't she?" He gave a short chuckle that told her she wasn't wrong, and she found the resolve to get down to business. "When your men found me…did they find anything…else?" Ruby asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt, trying not to give away more than she ought to. Was it a good idea to let him know what she came here to retrieve?

"Why, did you lose something important?" His eyes narrowed with intrigue, the smirk still playing on his lips in a way that was just too attractive to fully ignore. Ruby did her best anyway.

She bit her lip, shifting her eyes to the side, he wasn't wrong. "…You could say that."

His apparent interest grew, and he stepped closer to her. "Is it a valuable something?" She tilted her head slightly, bristling slightly at his proximity but trying not to let it show, then nodded. Killian raised his eyebrows at her, he'd need more information than that. "It would help if you would tell me what this 'something' is."

"Well…it's small, and loud…" Killian quirked an eyebrow at that part of her description, and she realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere unless she actually told him what she was looking for, so she continued, "and it's really more of a 'who' than a 'what'."

"You brought a friend along?" He seemed a little too pleased at that prospect, and Ruby scoffed.

"Or a baby." She lifted her shoulders slightly, as though this was the most obvious conclusion that he should have come up with, but this tidbit caused Killian's eyebrows to rise, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"You have a baby?" His tone was measured, if still somewhat amused. He seemed amused by nearly everything she said.

"No!" Ruby exclaimed quickly, for some reason appalled that he might believe that. "I mean, it's my friend's baby. I'm looking after her."

"You're doing a bang-up job, love." He grinned, clearly mocking her, and Ruby folded her arms over her chest and gave him her best acidic glare.

"Did your men find a baby when they grabbed me or not?" She demanded. She was well aware of how fantastically she'd managed to screw this up…most people only dropped their friend's babies, or let them stick their fingers in electrical outlets or something. Only Ruby would manage to get the kid hauled off to another world and then lose her. She certainly did have a talent for failing spectacularly, and she didn't need some punk pirate wearing too much eyeliner to point that out right now.

"I'm fairly certain they might have mentioned that. I mean, they're not the cleverest bunch, but some things are hard to miss. You know this world does have a bit of a reputation-"

"-for fairies stealing children, I know. That whole Peter Pan thing?" Killian nodded, and Ruby frowned with disappointment. Before the curse broke, Alexandra would have been safe in Storybrooke, no magic the fairies could use could get to their world, so no one thought to put up the usual safeguards when the curse broke. They'd know better now…or, once she'd rescued the baby princess and returned her safely home.

"Don't worry, I hear the fairies take very good care of the children they take, raise them up just like their own." He assured her, and Ruby gave him an appalled look.

"I'm not just leaving her here, I have to bring her back with me!" She exclaimed, and again, Killian seemed amused, reaching out with his hook, he brushed her hair back out of her eyes.

"And what makes you think you're going back, darling?"


End file.
